Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jun 2002
Source: Florida Times-Union (FL)
Copyright: 2002 The Florida Times-Union
Contact: http://www.times-union.com/aboutus/letters_to_editor.html
Website: http://www.times-union.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/155
Author: Jim Saunders and Laura Diamond

VOUCHERS, DRUG TESTS ARE LEGAL, COURT RULES

Schools Decision Bolsters Bush Florida Plan

In a huge boost to Florida's school-voucher programs, the U.S. Supreme 
Court ruled yesterday that tax dollars can be used to send children to 
religious schools.

The court, in a 5-4 ruling, said an Ohio voucher program did not violate 
the constitutional separation of church and state, as long as parents also 
were given other choices such as enrolling their children in magnet schools 
or non-religious private schools.

The ruling was a victory for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Republican 
lawmakers, who passed a controversial program in 1999 that offers vouchers 
to children who attend chronically failing public schools. Florida's 
program, which could grow to include thousands of students during the 
coming school year, is expected to rely heavily on religious schools.

Voucher supporters argue that the programs in Ohio, Florida and other 
states offer choices to low-income parents, who otherwise might not have 
enough money to transfer their children to better-quality private schools.

"Most importantly, this is a victory for the children who were trapped in 
some of the worst schools in the country, and for the frustrated parents 
who had no real options," Bush said. "The court's ruling affirms the 
constitutionality of programs that allow parents a real choice, including 
the option of receiving an education at a religious school."

While the ruling resolves the question about whether such voucher programs 
violate the U.S. Constitution, it will not end a state court fight over 
Florida's voucher program.

Opponents quickly said yesterday they will continue a lawsuit that argues 
the program violates the Florida Constitution. That argument focuses, in 
part, on a section of the Florida Constitution that uses stronger language 
than the U.S. Constitution in dealing with the issue of separation of 
church and state.

"That [the Florida Constitution] is the people's document, and it tells us 
we don't want vouchers in Florida," said Tony Welch, a spokesman for the 
Florida Education Association, a teachers union that has helped spearhead 
the lawsuit.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court ruling elated a Pensacola parent whose son 
is one of the first in the state to receive a voucher. Cassandra Galloway, 
whose son Jonathan receives a voucher to attend Sacred Heart Cathedral 
Catholic School, screamed "thank you, thank you, thank you," when told of 
the decision.

"I'm just so happy that he can keep going to his school," Galloway said. 
"I'm just so thankful we have this opportunity."

Yesterday's ruling dealt with a vouchers program that started in 1996 to 
help students leave the troubled Cleveland public school system. Of the 
3,700 students who participated in the program during the 1999-2000 school 
year, 96 percent enrolled in religious schools.

The majority of the Supreme Court found that the program is "neutral in all 
respects toward religion" because parents also had the option of 
transferring to non-religious private schools or other public schools. 
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion and was joined by 
Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and 
Clarence Thomas.

"It is part of a general and multifaceted undertaking by the state of Ohio 
to provide educational opportunities to the children of a failed school 
district," Rehnquist wrote.

But dissenters said the program moved toward state-sponsored religion, 
violating the so-called "Establishment Clause" of the U.S. Constitution. 
Justice David Souter, who was joined in dissent by Justices John Paul 
Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, pointed to the fact that 
almost all children in the program went to religious schools.

"For the overwhelming number of children in the voucher scheme, the only 
alternative to the public schools is religious," Souter wrote.

The ruling comes amid a noisy, politically charged debate in Florida about 
Bush's efforts to overhaul the education system, including his support for 
vouchers.

Lawmakers approved vouchers in 1999 as part of Bush's "A-Plus" education 
plan, which grades all public schools each year based on student scores on 
the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Schools are declared failing if 
they receive an F twice during a four-year period, enabling students to 
transfer to higher-scoring public schools or to receive vouchers to attend 
private schools.

Since 1999, 52 students from two Pensacola elementary schools have received 
vouchers worth up to $3,800 a year. Nearly 9,000 additional students in 
Escambia, Miami-Dade, Orange and Palm Beach counties are eligible for 
vouchers during the upcoming academic year because their schools received a 
second F when the state released grades earlier this month.

No students in Northeast Florida are eligible for the vouchers, but 13 
Duval County schools could be declared failing next year if they receive F 
grades.

Florida in recent years also started a program that has provided vouchers 
to 4,000 students with disabilities, though that program has not been as 
controversial as Bush's vouchers plan. Lawmakers passed the program to help 
disabled students transfer to private schools if they think public schools 
are not meeting their needs.

Voucher opponents, including many Democrats and politically powerful 
teachers unions, argue that Bush's plan hurts public schools by taking away 
tax dollars and students. A coalition of groups, led by the Florida 
Education Association, has fought in court against Bush's voucher program 
for the past three years.

A hearing is scheduled next month in Leon County Circuit Court on the issue 
of whether the Florida Constitution bars the state from sending tax dollars 
to religious schools.

The disputed part of the Constitution says that no tax dollars "shall ever 
be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any 
church, sect or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian 
institution." By contrast, the Ohio case centered on part of the U.S. 
Constitution that says there shall be "no law respecting an establishment 
of religion."

But state Solicitor General Tom Warner, who has helped defend Florida's 
vouchers program, said state courts have typically viewed the Florida 
Constitution the same way as they have viewed the religious-related 
language in the U.S. Constitution.

"The Florida Supreme Court, at least up to now, has always interpreted it 
the same as the U.S. Constitution," Warner said.

Patricia Tierney, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of St. 
Augustine in Northeast Florida, called yesterday's ruling a plus for the 
voucher movement. Tierney said her schools have about 40 students who get 
vouchers through the program for disabled children or get funding through 
another state program that offers tax credits to companies that pay for 
low-income children to attend private schools.

"Parents need to have choices," Tierney said. "The poor have very few 
choices or none. We truly do believe that our society will be improved by 
all people getting the education they need and want."
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